Smoked Electronics
 

I just purchased my first electric plane about a month ago. It is a parkzone F27C stryker. I have about 6 flights on the plane with 4 of them being on borrowed packs and two being on my personal lipo pack. Last night I went to the field to get some more time on this plane and as soon as I plugged in the pack, poof, It went up in smoke. I did everything the same as I have always done. I turned on the transmitter and verified I was on the proper model. I then secured the battery in the plane and plugged it in. It happened so fast that I did not even get to push the connector all the way together before smoke poured from the ESC and motor. The prop jerked around a bit, but never rotated. I immediately pulled the connectors apart and pulled the lipo out of the plane to make sure it was not going off as well. It was fine not hot or swollen. I checked the transmitter again and the throttle was all the way down, and it was set on the proper plane. I cannot figure out what would have caused this other than a random failure of the ESC. I going to contact parkzone about this when they open and see what can be done under warranty. Any Ideas.???

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

WOW, What great service. I just got off of the phone with Horizon and told them what happened. They are shipping a new ESC and a new motor out to me today. No hassle, No questions, Just great service. I will definately be doing more business with them in the future. :D:D:D

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

Its great to hear of positive responses to real problems from suppliers such as this rather than only just the negatives getting posted.

John

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

So true. I ordered a shaft for my T-28 480 motor from Hobbyzone, and it had the right part #, but was the wrong shaft, a simple packaging error. I called Horizon about it and they sent me a replacement, no questions. They also shipped it super fast. Absolutely outstanding customer service......http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f.../thumbs_up.gif

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

Horizon has always been top notch in CS. But back to your problem. It sure sounds like maybe you plugged the pack in backwards. That would account for the instant poof and magic smoke leakage. Word of warning, if you are using a lipo, you may want to segregate it for a while. If in fact you did plug it in backwards, you caused a dead short. For that matter even if the esc or motor was at fault, you still shorted the pack. Lipos don't like being mistreated. Keep an eye on it, as it may not show a problem until you go to use it next time.

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

That was the only thing I could come up with as well, but I am using the EC3 connectors that have one square side and one round side. They cannot be plugged in backwards without a lot of force. I learned a long time ago, as I am a get a bigger hammer kind of guy, that most things in this hobby dont react well to being forced so I am sure the pack was plugged in correctly. I have used this pack before so I know the polarity in the connectors is right. The only thing I can come up with is that the ESC just failed which then fried the motor.

Can a brushless motor be rebuilt??? Just wondering, it maight be nice to have a spare or use it for something else.

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

Well, the same thinghappened to me this morning. I stopped at the park on the way to work with a quick flight in mind. I turned on the Tx and started to plug the battery into the esc. I have the blue connectors (don't know what they're called) that, theoretically can't be plugged in backward. I can't see close up with my glasses on, so as I started to make the connection, I thought, "I'd better pull my glasses down to BE SURE." Too late. While I couldn't have actually plugged the connection in backwards, I did allow them to touch and contact was made. Iwas, for an instant, able to see the surface of the sun between my fingertips.

Subsequent checking of the battery shows two (out of three) live cells and one dead. The esc has no burnt smell, but I suspect I'll be replacing it as well. Dang. If it ain't one thing, it's another.

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

Yes. Search for rewind. Basically, the motor a bunch of magets glued to a shaft or bell (in or outrunner) and an armature with windings. There are lots of directions on this forum and rc groups. It's more not simple, but it's not complex or difficult.

Jack

RE: Smoked Electronics
 

good to hear that Horizon took care of you. I've had nothing but great customer service from Horizon as well. Very happy with them.

Basically, if you have a part that you think may be defective, give them a call and 99.9% of the time they'll ship you out a new part for free.